One of the biggest problems facing a hospital, be it civilian or military, or a military aid station in combat conditions, is the sterile, efficient and economical disposal of body waste of bedridden or non-ambulatory patients.
Presently, rigid bedpans fabricated from metal or other rigid materials are utilized to collect the wastes of nonambulatory patients. These bedpans are stored in a sterile area away from the wards and rooms where the patients are located. Thus, a hospital attendant must answer a patient's call, ascertain the need for a bedpan, go to the sterile storage area to secure the pan, take it back to the patient for use, return to the patient to remove the pan and then return the pan with the waste therein to a disposal area. After the bedpan is emptied, it must be completely sterilized before it can be resused.
Present sterilization techniques for rigid, reusable bedpans require the use of expensive equipment and a considerable amount of time. Likewise, when the pan is moved from area to area with the excrement stored therein, a cover, usually a paper bag or the like, is utilized to cover the bedpan during the move.
Obviously, an attendant wastes a considerable amount of time in the process of ascertaining the need for a bedpan, going to secure the pan and then returning the pan to a disposal area.
The present system of sterilization of rigid bedpans is not only costly in time and equipment required, but there is a serious doubt as to the ability to achieve 100% sterilization using existing equipment and methods, particularly in combat situations.
It must be understood that the problems of infection and reinfection in a base hospital, and most particularly in a MASH unit or a temporary combat unit holding facility for subsequent advanced medical facilities, are the most critical problems facing its staff. In some cases, if sterilization equipment breaks down or does not operate properly, infection of various types can rapidly spread throughout the hospital.
Of course, the use of a rigid, conventional bedpan is quite uncomfortable for a nonambulatory patient, particularly those patients who by age or disease have high pain sensitivity to having their pelvic region stressed by elevation or pressure or lack of sacro-support. In some instances, such patients will become irritable when an attendant does not promptly return at the patient's call to remove the pan. In some cases, continued use of conventional, rigid bedpans will cause aggravation of or formation of decubitus ulcers.
It will be obvious that the use of conventional bedpans in an environment such as, for instance, an army field hospital can never be absolutely sterile. That is, it would be entirely too burdensome to provide a field hospital with the equipment necessary to properly sterilize each bedpan after it is used.
Still another disadvantage of conventional bedpans is that, in their use, it is often difficult to keep the bedding clean. That is,the bedding is often contaminated by urine spatter when conventional bedpans are used. Of course, it is desirable to keep the bedding absolutely clean and dry.
Inflatable, disposable bedpans are well known in the art. See, for example, Oring U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,513,488; Dailey 3,605,127; Smith 4,207,633; Avoy 3,609,771; Yost 2,466,142; MacDonald 2,750,600; and Kimbro 3,728,744. Drawbacks associated with economy of production and practicality of use have resulted in the bedpans described in these issued patents being seldom used, if they are currently utilized at all.
One problem with many of the prior art bedpans is that they must be inflated before they are positioned beneath a bedridden patient. If the patient is paralyzed or experiences pain on movement onto the bedpan, the patient normally must have two or more attendants lift his hips high enough to allow the insertion of the bedpan under the buttocks or must have the attendants turn him to one side before placing the bedpan under the buttocks and then rotating him back to the supine position. Either of these procedures may cause extreme discomfort to patients who have fractures of the spine, pelvis, hips or upper legs and who experience pain during sudden or irregular movement. Paralyzed patients, many of whom may have accumulated considerable weight around the hip area, are difficult to lift onto a bedpan. More than one attendant is usually required and the attendants, each positioned on one side of the bed, must lean over the bed such that the muscles of their backs rather than their arm muscles are primarily used for lifting the patient; hence, attendants must possess considerable strength to successfully repeatedly raise a patient from the bed to insert or remove a bedpan. Nonambulatory patients who might be cared for at home are often placed in nursing homes largely because their familites are unable to cope with their toilet needs.
Further problems of existing inflatable bedpans are associated with the activation of self-contained mechanisms which provide the gas which inflates the plastic or other resilient material forming the inflatable chambers of the bedpan. U.S. Pat. No. 3,571,654 described in bedpan in which fluid is added to chemicals contained in the inflatable chamber of a bedpan. The reaction between the chemicals and water produces a gas which inflates the bed pan.
The problems arising from providing means for and comfort to bedridden persons in the elimination of bodily waste and to provide means to facilitate such have not been unrecognized. U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,717 discloses an inflatable single-use bedpan which is inflated from an oxygen supply. The so inflated bedpan has its body received wastes removed by rupturing the bottom wall over an appropriate waste receiving body. U.S. Pat. No. 3,579,654 discloses a self inflatable bedpan which so inflates by formation of a gas by the interaction of chemical components. U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,195 discloses a self-inflatable plastic bedpan which is activated by a pressurized gas cartridge contained within an adjunct integral with the inflatable portions of the bedpan. U.S. Pat. No. 3,513,488 discloses an oval bedpan having a valve for receiving pressurized gases or a self-generating gas system upon activation of a lever into a compartment in the disclosed unit. U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,066 discloses an inflatable disposable bedpan which has vertical ribs between the top and bottom compartments and which has a valved inlet/outlet means. The prior art has apparently not recognized the need to provide a bedpan which provides support for the lower back of a patient who, for reasons of illness or injury is unable to sit upon a bedpan.